The XXVI Fighter Command was a formation of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. It was assigned to

Sixth Air Force Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixth ...

throughout its existence. It was based at

Albrook Field Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama. It was closed on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which specified that United States military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zon ...

, Panama Canal Zone, where it was inactivated on 25 August 1946. It engaged in antisubmarine operations from the Canal Zone. In 1947, when the United States Air Force (USAF) became independent, the Army transferred all Army Air Forces, Air Service and Air Corps units (there were a number of Air Corps units that had never been in the Army Air Forces, and a few Air Service units) to the USAF. A year later, the newly forming USAF permanently disbanded the command.

Lineage

* Constituted as 26th Interceptor Command on 28 February 1942Maurer indicates that the unit was constituted as the "XXVI" Interceptor Command. However, the unit was constituted and activated with an

arabic number The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numerals. ...

in its name. The use of

roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

s to designate Army Air Forces combat commands did not begin until September 1942. : Activated on 6 March 1942 : Redesignated: 26th Fighter Command on 15 May 1942 : Redesignated: XXVI Fighter Command c. 18 September 1942 : Inactivated on 25 August 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 454-455

Components

; Groups *

16th Pursuit Group The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing i ...

(later 16th Fighter Group), 6 March 1942 – 1 November 1943 * 32d Fighter Group, 6 March 1942 – 1 November 1943 * 37th Fighter Group, 18 September 1942 – 1 November 1943 *

53d Pursuit Group The 53rd Wing is a wing (air force unit), wing of the United States Air Force based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing (military aviation unit), wing reports to the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, ...

(later 53d Fighter Group), 6 March – 26 November 1942 ; Squadrons *

24th Fighter Squadron The 24th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Combat Command unit, assigned to the 495th Fighter Group at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The squadron was activated in 2019 and flies the F-35A as an active associate ...

, 1 November 1943 – 25 August 1946 *

28th Fighter Squadron 028 rainbow service is an emergency telephone, email and instant messaging service in Spain for victims of hate crimes or discrimination based of queerphobia. Its implementation was announced for Summer 2022 by Ministry of Equality (Spain), Equalit ...

, 1 November 1943 – 25 August 1946 *

29th Fighter Squadron 029 may refer to: * IBM 029, a keypunch machine * 029, the telephone area code of Xi'an and Xianyang * Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a popula ...

, 1 November 1943 – 8 April 1944 *

30th Fighter Squadron 030 may refer to: * Motorola 68030 * BR-030 * Geographical telephone calling prefixes ** Greater Accra area code, Ghana ** Utrecht, Netherlands ** Berlin, Germany ** Bar Municipality and Ulcinj Municipality of Montenegro ** Province of Brescia, It ...

, 1 November 1943 – 25 August 1946 * 31st Fighter Squadron, 1 November 1943 – 8 April 1944 *

32d Fighter Squadron The ROMP is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor designed by IBM in the late 1970s. It is also known as the Research OPD Miniprocessor (after the two IBM divisions that collaborated on its inception, IBM Research and the Offic ...

, 13 March 1944 - 25 Aug 1946 *

43d Fighter Squadron The 43rd Fighter Squadron is part of the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It conducts advanced fighter training for F-22 Raptor pilots. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating ...

, 1 November 1943 – 25 August 1946 * 51st Fighter Squadron, 1 November 1943 – 25 August 1946Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 217-21 * 52d Fighter Squadron, 1 November 1943 – 8 April 1944Maurer indicates the 52d Squadron was assigned to the 32d Fighter Group during this period. However, the group was disbanded on 1 November 1943. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 219. Compare Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. (assignment to 32d Group terminated in 1943).

Stations

, Panama Canal Zone, 6 March 1942 – 25 August 1946

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * {{USAAF 6th Air Force World War II 26 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946